Taylor Cate couldn’t stand the sight of overflowing trash cans. Every Tuesday—trash pickup day in her Lake View neighborhood in McCalla—the lids wouldn’t shut because the trash was piled so high. “It’s gross and makes us look trashy,” said the 18-year old. “It’s wasteful too.” Families aren’t that big in her neighborhood, she said. How could small families generate so much trash? She decided there must be a better way. Shetalked to neighbors and sent out fliers advertising her free recycling services,starting first with plastic, then adding aluminum, glass, cardboard, paper andplastic foam. She now picks up recyclablesfrom about 13 neighbors. “Starting recycling is really easy,” she says. “You just set up a couple of bins in your kitchen . .or wherever you have room and just start tossing . . . then find your nearest recycling plant. It doesn’t take a whole lot of effort.” On a recent Tuesday, she unloaded bags from her car’s trunk and back seat into her basement after pickups. Several small bagsholding newspapers and phone books were piled next to at least 10 big garbage bags and a couple of tubs holding the other recyclables. It’s been two Tuesdays since she’s delivered the recyclables to Tuscaloosa. “It’s a lot,” she says, realizing that it won’t allfit into her small car in one trip. Neighborhood pickup is needed in theMcCalla area she says, but until that happens, she will be making an impact onthe environment one neighbor at a time. “People’s trash cans are shut now,” she says happily. --Linda Stelter